Transcript - RTR FM 92.1 - Friday, 20 August 2021
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
RADIO INTERVIEW
RTR FM 92.1
FRIDAY, 20 AUGUST 2021
SUBJECTS: Arts sector during COVID; Increased cost of university degrees; RTR FM Radiothon.
MAXXI MAY, HOST: Patrick Gorman was elected as the Federal Member for Perth in 2018, and Patrick and his family live in North Perth. His parents were both teachers and he is a local dad and he's passionate about education funding, protecting Medicare, boosting local jobs in Perth, and he's a huge supporter of RTR FM. Welcome, Patrick.
PATRICK GORMAN, SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Maxxi, thanks for having me on the program, and also a big shout out to the volunteers who are in the phone room taking all of the new subscriptions.
MAY: Oh, thank you so much, they're doing such a great job. And we're hoping lots of people call and subscribe. And I wanted to have a little chat with you. I know you're a big supporter of the arts, so we just wanted to have a little chat today about, your perspective on the arts, what's been happening in the year that, the year and the COVID time. And yeah, how has the past year been for you and in your perspective in the arts?
GORMAN: Look, I think it's been a really tough time for the arts because the artists and people in the industry, whether they be back of house or even hospitality workers attached to the arts, have really felt like they've been forgotten quite often. They didn't get the JobKeeper that other organisations and businesses got. There wasn't really the acknowledgement when this pandemic hit, that the arts is a hundred and twelve billion dollar part of our economy, the arts is so much of what makes Australia the country that we all love. It's been a pretty tough time. And I don't need to tell any of your listeners that, they know it. But I would say, I think what I'm also seeing is the way that people have found really clever ways to support artists through support acts or indeed, now, wherever we can, I think while we're lucky here in West Australia, we need to be sending support to artists who have just had gigs and performances cancelled in the East Coast.
MAY: For the East Coast especially, it's been a really difficult, difficult time, like in and out of lockdown and Perth as well. But, definitely over there's a lot of effort put into putting on gigs and exhibitions and performances and this constant backing, going backwards and forwards to try and put things back on has had a lot of impact on organisations.
GORMAN: It goes so wide in our economy and in our community, too, I mean, I was out with the team Audio Technik last year seeing some of their gear that they use for those big concerts. They're a great West Australian business, but they've been hit pretty hard. Just up the road from yourselves and from my house, is the Astor Theatre. They can't get the Elvis impersonators and others that would normally be filling their concert hall on a regular basis. It's just kind of everywhere. So we really need to make sure that, my job as a local politician who sees this every day and in the Federal Parliament is that we make sure that we build back better as we come out of this pandemic so that we do have, it's a bit of hard to say now, but make sure we do have a stronger community going forward.
MAY: And like you said, the arts is a billion dollar industry and Australia would not be what it is without the arts, and we do need politicians to be supporting and encouraging and realising, you've got to just look at something like Fringe that contributes such a huge amount of money. The Perth Festival. They're just big festivals. But, then you've got musicians and artists and performers on a daily and weekly level contributing to keep us excited and sane and happy.
GORMAN: You can enjoy arts at any level. I think that's the thing, is whether you're, as you know, I've got two young kids. One of the great things that happened to me over the last year was we added another baby to our household. Ruby's now eight months old. I see how much, my oldest son, Leo, who's almost four, how much they enjoy the arts. We would go to Fringe and they would love the mermaids and things. So all of those bits and being able to make sure that young people can access the arts early makes such a difference for education, but also for their lifelong love of arts. One of the things that we're losing at the moment, is that that's not as easy as it's been in previous years. That's a missed opportunity too, for the long term sustainability of the sector.
MAY: There's organisations like AWESOME Arts who do arts specifically for young kids.
GORMAN: AWESOME Arts': 'Snugglepot and Cuddlepie' was a very good production, that they put on this year. Big shoutout to AWESOME Arts.
MAY: We've got the amazing museum here now. And I just wanted to also add that what I have I'm a practising artist, what I've noticed this year is a kind of a positive that's come out of COVID, not great for the international and national artists, but a positive that has come out of it is like, for example, in Western Australia or Perth, there's been some localisation that's happened and more support of what is already here and really being inspired by that and encouraging and nurturing what is here.
GORMAN: I think that has been one of the many really positive things that we've seen. But one of the challenges I know that local artists and local producers have raised with me is that they don't have the balance sheet that some of those major touring companies have. What one of the things that Labor's been pushing for is to make sure we have a proper insurance scheme for the sector so that people who do the right thing and try and put on these localised festivals have some sort of insurance. That if another wave of COVID hits, which sometimes it feels like no matter how hard everyone tries to do the right thing, it's somewhat inevitable. We need to make sure that we can support those smaller outfits when they do take that leap to put on a program, because I know they're really feeling that risk at the moment.
MAY: You're listening to Artbeat with Maxxi and I'm chatting with Federal Member for Perth, Patrick Gorman. And Patrick, I do agree with you. I think if politicians and the Government can throw a bit more money towards supporting the livelihood of artists who are creating this creative community, that would be absolutely awesome because it is a valid, valid industry.
GORMAN: Yeah, it really is, and to all the artists who are listening and who are part of the broader RTR community, I just want to say a huge thank you, because I think the other thing I've seen is the artists have been really willing to continue to sometimes give away their very valuable work as a way of sort of pushing good out into the world, even when they've received some pretty tough news about the cancellation of a gig or a performance. The other thing that I really feel like we kind of as a country are going down the wrong track a bit is just in terms of the access to university education. One of the things that happened, since the last radiothon is that we've seen some pretty radical changes in terms of university fees and university funding.
MAY: Yeah that's been crazy.
GORMAN: It's been crazy. It has been crazy and it is crazy. An arts degree is going to be 113 per cent more expensive because of these changes. And I don't want to use some sort of a harsh, mean economic lever to stop someone who's got a great promise as an artist, going and studying engineering just because it's cheaper. That's just stupid.
MAY: Is it is so incredibly sad, and what is sad about that, too, is that, occupations like engineering, you can kind of, in a sense, walk into a job, not always. But the arts, you have to be a little bit more creative to earn money. It's not like, I'm an artist, I can just, tick a box and get an interview and get a job. So it is such a shame that this is happening. I really appreciate you talking to me today. What I wanted to end with is I just wanted you to talk a bit to what's the importance of RTR FM, and especially over the last year during times of COVID. And why is it so important for a community radio station like RTR FM to be around and to receive that community support?
GORMAN: I think it's important because what we've found is that we're always looking for different ways for people to connect and when we haven't been out to connect, physically, being able to connect through the magic of radio, which is really one of the great educators and connected in the media landscape, is really important. I think the fact that it really is volunteer based, we know that volunteer based organisations are the strongest organisations in our communities because they have links that are deeper than anywhere else. I think RTR also just give so much back. You give so much back to the artists, you give so much back to your presenters and volunteer presenters. You give so much back to the Beaufort strip where you're based, and the people who engage with RTR go on to do amazing things. I love RTR's history. I think it's got a great and promising future in the new media landscape, but that only happens if every listener sings up. Does this subscription to RTR, or if you've already subscribed, dip in, find 20 bucks, find 50 bucks and make a donation.
MAY: Thank you so much. I've been chatting with Federal Member for Perth, Patrick Gorman, it's been such a pleasure chatting with you.
GORMAN: Great to chat to you Maxxi, you have a great day.
MAY: Thank you for all your support of the arts and for especially for your support of RTR FM.
GORMAN: Thank you.